Fox Party S-T: A Final Fantasy Epic
by Grypinh the Moonfox
Summary: In order to save all worlds, the Scions who live between them have chosen me as a savior! Can I make Ivalice work When Vaan is Dead, leaving it to me and my group to continue the story?
1. Chapter 0: Prelude to fate

Chapter 0: Prelude of Fate

I awake to the sound of running water and the squeaking of rats. What happened...? Where am I? I open my eyes to see a high ceiling and lots of water all around, not all of it clean... ugh...

Slowly, i come to realize where I recognize this place from: it's the Garamsythe Waterway from FINAL FANTASY XII... How is that possible? Last I remembered, I was on Earth just shortly after December 21, 2012... Suddenly, it hit me:

[Flashback to last night's dream]

I am drifting in blank emptiness... Suddenly, a figure appears to me. S/he (I can't really tell) speaks to me

"Do not be scared, young one. I am Illumina, scion of Light. You have been chosen to save a world that has lost its ties with its true destiny, and restore balance."

"What?" This made no sense to me. Why would I of all people be selected to save any world?

"Because you are dedicated to doing the right thing." The being could read my mind as easily as if I'd spoke it out loud. "Now, before any further denials and questions occur to you, let me explain a few things. Your world is only one of many. All worlds exist aside each other, protected from exact detection of each other by what you humans call the fourth wall. If one world begins to lose its true destiny, then all other worlds will come to an end. That is why I have called upon you, a human from Earth, to fix this problem. Earth is a sort of a 'hub'. Many worlds are known of in its many fictions, and so you know of what will happen in this world to come."

I still had my doubts. "I am simply a human, though. No special abilities. No extra power. Why me?"

"Because of your imagination, which we interdimensional Scions feed off of, I can give you your 'special powers', as you chose to call them. Also, you won't be alone. We have plucked from your subconscious characters from your own imagination, and that of a friend. Your friend will also be there. Altogether, you will number 8: the two of you, and the six we selected for you."

At that point, in faded six indistinct figures and my greatest friend, Tim. The scion began to glow. "You cannot be recognized as humans, nor should anyone you meet know your real names. Should either thing happen, the fourth wall will crumble, and all worlds are doomed whether you save this one or not. Therefore, you must take on new forms, and new names. Are you up for it?"

I looked at Tim, who nodded. He must have conversed with another Scion elsewhere in this dream world. I looked at Illumina. "I am."

The Scion smiled. "Good. The world you are saving is called Ivalice. Most of the main heroes are dead. You are the new heroes, but you must find each other and protect the remaining heroes to preserve the world's main destiny. Good luck." The glow intensified, and everything whites out...

[End flashback]

Realizing I hadn't discovered what my new form was, I gave myself a quick look-over from where I lay. I had grown fur, my fingernails had become claws, and a numbness at the base of my spine suggested I had a tail. Rolling over, I looked in a body of water to find out; I had become a kitsune, a fox person, with three tails. As for clothes, I was wearing a black trench coat, a black t-shirt with the kanji for Samurai on it in red, jeans, and wore a dream catcher necklace, a lucky charm from Earth. Perhaps our forms were also selected from our subconsciouses. My name came to me immediately.

"Grypinh. Grypinh Moonfox" Standing up, I immediately noticed the Dire Rats had not attacked me. This struck me as strange, so I walked deeper into the room to investigate. What I saw shocked me beyond belief.

"Oh my god..."


	2. Chapter 1: Fate most Grim

Chapter 1: Fate Most Grim

[Music theme: Far away in the Twilight, Nobuo Uematsu FF9]

A corpse greeted my sight, right there in the middle of the room. Dire rats surrounded him, and were making short work of it. Despite this, I easily recognized it as Vaan. How did the Ratsbane of Lowtown get laid low by his popular prey? I'd have pondered this, if the rats hadn't been scared off by a rush of wind and a distant neighing sound. A fireball flew into the room, which I easily recognized as the Firemane boss from the beginning of the game. Also watching over Vaan's body now was a spirit creature, which, if memory served properly, was the Wraith mark hunt. Great, now they wanted their share of Vaan's body. I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Stop!" I ran straight towards the two. Both monsters looked up at me, and the Firemane charged forward while the Wraith charged a Doom spell.

[Music theme: Don't be Afraid, Nobuo Uematsu FF8]

A power rose up in me, and I held forward my left hand without even thinking about it. A kanji seal appeared before me, I think it was the one for _sword_. Swinging my hand across my body, a blade of pure energy slashed through the air and cut the demon horse in two, as well as the runes projecting from the Doom spell. "_Spirit Issen_"

The Firemane collapsed, dead on impact, but the Wraith still stood, seemingly unaffected by the energy blade as it passed through it. Obviously, it was more resistant to magic; even that variety which I realized took physical energy as well as magical. Apparently, Chi Magicks weren't all powerful. Suddenly, it was in front of me, having teleported, and tried to lash me with one of its long, wispy arms. Again reacting without thinking, I drew a katana from my side, and cut through the arm. Shrieking, it quickly withdrew from me. Before it got far, though, I swung again, and this time it was through the body. The creature let loose a wail, an unearthly sound I didn't know was possible from a creature so silent in the games, and faded away.

[End music]

Looking at my saving grace (I think that will be the name of this blade, too, Saving Grace), I found it to be a Kotetsu katana, customized to look like its hilt was a dragon, with a wing-shaped Tsuba cross guard. Remembering the reason for my confrontation, I quickly rushed to Vaan's side. He was a mess, little more than a skeleton, just barely recognizable. Just then, Kites came down to call Vaan back like in the game. What he found instead was a skeletal corpse, a fox- human creature, and a whole lotta carnage.

"What the-" Needless to say, he was shocked.

"Don't worry, I'm not a monster, just... a strange viera. I was passing through when i found this being ravaged by monsters." I hoped that sounded convincing. I could believe it, and stick to it, if nobody asked too many questions. Kites took it, thankfully, and shook his head.

"Migelo's gonna have a fit. First Penelo falls sick, now Vaan..." He was clearly upset.

"Wait, Penelo's sick?"

"You know Penelo?" The boy looked surprised. Of course, I'm an idiot! Well, got to own up, I guess...

"You could say that... Where is she? Giza?"

"Y-yeah, but how did you..." Oh, of all the ways...

"Lucky guess, based off of surrounding geography."

I left him then. No time to waste. If what the Scion said was true, then a grim fate awaited us with Vaan dead, and others in danger of death. Plus, who knows, I might've slipped up and ruined everything there, before we even got started, if I stayed.

"W-wait! I didn't catch your name!" Well, it would be fine to give him that at least.

"Grypinh! Grypinh Moonfox!" I said with a grin I hoped looked sly. I turned, and headed for Giza.


	3. Chapter 2: Giza Plains Blues

_**I do hope** _**_that people are enjoying themselves!_** _**O**_**_h,_ _yeah!_** **_I forgot a disclaimer! _**

**_I do not own FFXII, Square Enix or whatever they call themselves now do. However, I DO own all my OCs.  
_**

Chapter 2: Giza Plain Blues

[Music theme: Giza Plain Theme, Hitoshi Sakimoto FF12]

The Plains were bigger than the game made them look. Of course, I should've seen that coming, but it still caught me off guard. The Hyena monsters were no problem, but the distance still got to me pretty easily. I may be a distance runner, but there was a lot of ground to cover quickly. Finally, the village came in sight. The nomads there eyed me pretty suspiciously, but led me to the hut where Penelo lay, deathly still, pale, and dry despite the heat. The elder sat next to her holding a faintly glowing crystal to her forehead.

"How is she? Is there a way to heal her?" I was immediately willing to help. In the game, she looked cute at best, but in real life, even while sick, she proved to be actually rather pretty, and I would've wanted to see her live, even if she hadn't been important to the storyline.

"The sunstone I have here is keeping the sickness at bay, but it is weak. We sent another like you, but different, to create another one, but he has not yet returned." Another like me, but different? Could it be...?

"I'll go find him, in case he's fallen into trouble. Also, may I have a shadestone, in case one is not enough?"

"That is well, but how did you know of the shadestones? We tell few about them, so that none may steal them." Was this going to be a recurring thing, my almost messing up?

"I have heard tell of them, from a friend who noted their healing qualities." Crisis averted, yet again! The elder nodded, and handed me a shadestone. I headed out yet again, to find my mystery person.

Heading further south, towards the Crystal Grove area, I was able to partially charge my shadestone, probably to about half power, and further develop my Chi Magicks. I now had two new Kanji, _Wind_ and _Spirit._

In the Crystal Grove, I found the small child (I forget her name) still cowering from the monsters, with a half-charged shadestone in her hand. I was able to send her back, and recover my strength with the crystal nearby. It was interesting, these crystals. It was like a cool wave rushing over me to refresh everything about me, and then a memory of my touching the crystal played, as if I had been watched as I did so. These crystals remember who you are and what you had done, so any who touched it before could be found by those who find it after. The mystery person must have passed through, because I saw an animal shaped human with glasses who touched the stone, with very little done before touching it, yet a power level similar to mine. He had headed south, so I followed in that direction

Eventually, I found him in the south bank, near the canyon that led to the Westersand. He was dealing with some Werewolf monsters, and having a little difficulty. A quick flash of steel and a Chi Spell later, the weakened Werewolves fell. Looking at my ally, I found him to be a Wolf like person, with a wicked looking Koga Blade. He wore square glasses, a pair of jeans, a leather jacket with white highlights, with a white t shirt underneath.

"Well, well, well. What have we here, Ace? Testing your limits?" I smiled slyly. This had to be Tim, only he wore glasses and was a wolf at any point in our Earthly stories. Problem was, he was never one to start a fight. Why would he now?

"Yeah..." He looked down, looking embarrassed."That and they started it... they just attacked out of nowhere" Tim, excuse me, _Ace Matrix,_ had no experience in the worlds of Final Fantasy. He was more of an Elder Scrolls kind of person.

"Those were Werewolves. Nasty creatures... we'll need some training before we try that again, ya?"

He scratched his head behind the ears. "Yeah, well..." Yep, he was definitely trying to find his limits.

"How is your shadestone? I have two at half power." I held both stones up, and suddenly they reacted, one transferring its energy to the other. "Correction, I have one full charged sunstone, one empty shadestone..."

Ace gave his own sly grin. Man, that looked CREEPY from a wolf, like he was gonna eat me... "Fully charged, filled just before those beasts attacked me."

I shook free of the disturbing images of a wolf man tearing into me, and returned the grin, hoping it creeped him out as much as his did me. "Then let's get back to that village... the girl, Penelo, is one we oughta save, and it's almost dark here..."

"Yeah." Together, we made our way safely back to the village.

The elder was very grateful to have two sunstones of such great power as ours, but she let us keep one, since only one was needed and I remembered we would need one for a later point in the game. With the one she kept, she declared that Penelo would be fine in a few days, including time she rested, so we left her in her care. We needed to kick start the story with what was left. Hopefully, that would set the game back in motion, and save the worlds.

_**Sooo... there! I have introduced one of my party of OCs, Ace Matrix. I wish to concede that my friend is real, and will jointly own half the OCs.**_

_**Till next time!**_


	4. Chapter 3: Sands of Respite

_**Hey there readers! So far, things are slow... but now that someone else is here, things might begin to speed along. I was looking back and realized I had cut in a part of the story ahead of its time, but hey, I call artistic license, ok? This is fan fiction for a reason! Anyhow, enjoy!**_

Chapter 3: Sands of Reprieve

[Music theme: Royal City of Rabanastre, Hitoshi Sakimoto FF12]

We were sitting in the Sandsea Bar, discussing with Tomaj about the Rogue Tomato Mark. It would be easy prey for us, but it was what would help is follow the storyline. Also, it would give us a reason to be out of the town searching for more of our party. I don't know why, but I felt that we would find another one of our merry band out there.

"First, how about I give you something to help you on your hunt?" That's right; Tomaj will give us an Orrachae Armlet, and then explain about the license board. "Oh, you don't have a license for that. Here..." He held out his hand, and a miniature version of the universal license board appeared. Also, a number appeared next to it. That was the license points he owned. Apparently, everyone in Ivalice had a license board tagged onto their natural Mist. License points were pieces of Mist gathered from the souls of defeated creatures, which explained why stronger creatures dropped more license points. For now, I activated the license for the Armlet, equipped it, and headed out with a word of thanks.

[Music theme: Dalmasca Estersands, Hitoshi Sakimoto FF12]

So, we left Rabanastre into the Estersand. There, we dealt with the Tomato very easily, and proceeded deeper in, entering the Yardang Labyrinth. In there, we found something from outside the game occurring. An angry Diresaur monster was rampaging, and the Rabanastre Guards were having a severely difficult time with it. Luckily, I had taken the time to learn the Libra technick (don't ask where I got the money), which allowed me to see subconsciously that the monster was weak against the Wind element. Despite its high level compared to us, together we could take it down.

[Music Theme: Red like Roses, Rooster Teeth RWBY; start at 1:15]

"Let's do this!" Charging my sword with wind, I dashed to the beast just as it dispatched the last guard. "It's weak against wind! _Kaze Braver!"_ The strike definitely hurt it, according to Libra, and it got its attention. The beast snarled, and charged for me.

"No you don't! _Howling Eclipse_!" The dark blade flashed, and another gash appeared in its side. It stopped mid charge, conflicted now as to which of us to devour first. I took the chance to grin and dash forward.

_"Aero Rush_!" The blade was yet again covered in a green wind, as well as me as I rushed at it at the speed of wind to rapidly strike it in a seven pointed star motion. Meanwhile, Ace ran up and stabbed it in its ankles and other weak points, slowing it down. The beast howled, and swung its tail, catching me in the chest. Ace charged forward, an Aero mote he found in hand, but the beast lunged, headbutting him on his back. We looked at each other. It was time for some serious teamwork.

_"Howling Moon!"_

_"Aero Slash!"_

"_**WINDS OF DESTIN**__Y!" _Our voices and attacks joined into a blur, Howling Moon giving us likeness of shadows, and Aero coating us in Wind energy. In three seconds, we had landed twenty-five blows, and together, we slid to a stop, behind the Diresaur, Ace on all fours holding his blade backhand, me standing, blade extended with my arm.

"**And now you fall.**" We said at the same time as the Diresaur exploded into meaty chunks.

[End music]

I sheathed my blade, while his simply disappeared mysteriously. "Well, that wasn't too bad, now was it?" I say, still grinning, but also panting from exertion.

"Nah, I've faced worse, just can't remember when." He was grinning and panting, too. Then the pain kicked in.

"Gahhhh... that hurts..." Apparently, that tail whap had cracked a few ribs. Too bad we forgot some Potions, or at least a Cure spell. "Let's head back"

"Agreed."

_**I don't care who you are, getting struck by a dinosaur hurts! I've noticed some readers, but no reviews! What is going on? Be sure to review, please, especially on this chapter. My first MAJOR fight scene, let me know how it went! See ya next time!**_


	5. Chapter 4: Stones of Dissent

_**Hey there, readers! I felt positively charitable since a week has gone by since my last update, so I thought a two-for-one deal was necessary! In any case, her you go! Now we storm the castle!**_

Chapter 4: Stones of Dissent

[Music theme: Clan Hall Theme, Hitoshi Sakimoto FF12]

We sat in the Clan Hall, speaking with Montblanc. Since we were going to be facing Marks to make us stronger, I felt we ought to have a Clan supporting us. Montblanc, seeing how we were not altogether weak, gave us the Rank of Rear Guard and some items to help us. Moogles were decidedly weird, but what they don't show in the game is that Montblanc actually wielded a Defender Greatsword and Volcano hand bombs with surprising ease. He would make a formidable foe, if clan duties and obligations as Clan Leader didn't force him to stay out of Harm's way. In any case, it was now time to continue the storyline some more.

"Now we must sneak into the castle, to steal a gem Vaan planned on using to help set himself up as a sky pirate. Two sky pirates named Balthier and Fran will try to stop us, maybe, but will wind up having to help us if things go right." I was explaining the situation to Ace, since he knew nothing of how the story went. To be honest, I hadn't finished the storyline myself, was pulled when I had only just completed Giruvegan, but I would bet that things will go very differently by then. The remaining real heroes would take that quest, and so we would just look out for external threats to them. At least, I hope so...

"Hey, you spaced out, Fox Boy, what's going on?" I blinked, returned to the real world. Well, as real as it could be, considering I'm a kitsune talking to a wolf man in a fantasy world made real.

"Well, uh, how about we just plan to there. I already dealt with the creature that gets us caught, so maybe things will turn out differently..."

"OK..."

[Music theme: Counteroffensive, Masahashi Hamauzu, FF7 Dirge of Cerberus]

The trek through Garamsythe took longer than we expected. I didn't realize the place was so confusing, with its many twists, turns, and detours. Eventually, we got into the castle. The guards were simple to deal with; we simply got two people to start a fight, and then slipped past while the Archadians were dealing with the offending slaves. We easily found the point to use the sunstone, and just as easily reached the hidden entrance to the armory. On the way, just for kicks, as well as to simply make it easier to get through the area, we knocked out a group of the guards before they could even realize they were being attacked or register who was attacking. However, I couldn't resist yelling "Hey Bucket heads!" as we took them out. I couldn't resist reliving that moment I first heard Vaan yell that in the game.

Once inside, the next part of the puzzle was getting the goddess' face to open and reveal the magicite Dusk Shard. In the meantime, I found a few weapons of interest to me; namely a slim black blade reminiscent of a diamond sword, and a black platinum dagger shaped like a military combat knife. I grabbed both of them, and finally the goddess' face opened to reveal our prize. At the same time, a man walked in, followed by a cloaked figure. The man held a gun in his hands, while the figure seemed to hold nothing, although there seemed to be some strange boxes over his wrists. With a jolt, I remembered the man's name.

"Balthier!" The man in question raised an eyebrow.

[End music]

"Oh, I do seem to be more popular than I thought. Unfortunately, I don't know you, and you have my prize. Mr. Steele, would you mind...?" 'Steele' stepped forward, the cloak making him seem to float over the air. The boxes glowed, and suddenly, I couldn't move. Based off his expression of surprise, neither could Ace. If I didn't know any better, I would've sworn we were being held psychically. Wait a minute...

"Well, I'm more than willing to give this to you, just not yet. " thank God, I could still speak. "If you follow me for just a bit longer, we could get you to places seen by few, and plundered by even fewer." Hopefully his sky pirate side would be interested. Luckily, it seemed he would be.

"Oh, really? Well, you seem to know how to intrigue this man-of-the-hour." He considered the offer for a bit. Then he nodded. "Very well, but one slip-up, and this sky pirate's never to be seen again, nor anyone else, for that matter." Then he had Steele drop us. I nodded, the threat understood. "Well? Chop chop, we haven't all day. Lead on!"

[Music theme: Hazardous Highway, Yoko Shimamura KH2]

I raced out onto the bridge where Balthier held his getaway ride. Figuring the magicite was why it crashed in the game, I said, "This won't work. This thing will crash if we try to use it."

Balthier shook his head. "Not with him piloting." He indicated Steele. Hmmm... he really seemed familiar...

I shrugged. "Suit yourself." If we crashed, then the waterways were our getaway, so I didn't care really one way or the other. I had simply tried to warn him, that's all.

We hopped on, all of us, and began our doomed flight. As we flew, I looked back at Ace. He was being rather quiet, and I knew he was scared of roller coasters and such, which this was, except without all the safety features. "You gonna be alright?"

"Don't talk to me; I'm trying to pretend to be anywhere but here!" Figures. He's scared out of his wits.

"Hold on!" Balthier shouted as we took off. We flew around the war torn courtyard. Oh, yeah, I forgot that the Rebels would attack... artillery and magicks clashed and exploded all around us. It seemed we were going to make it free; just then the engine ran down, just as i had predicted.

Steele seemed to have been expecting this. Suddenly, the glow appeared from those boxes again, and we stabilized. We were going to escape! Suddenly, an artillery shell burst in front of us, and the boxes stopped working as well. We fell into the hole in the courtyard the shell made, and crashed. We were back in the Waterways.

"... Totally called it." Everyone glared at me.

"Fox Boy, shut up. Don't talk anymore for a while." Yep. Tim *a-hem* Ace definitely did not enjoy the ride. However, we were all fine. Steele even still had his cloak on him perfectly. How did that work out? Never mind, there's no time to waste. Ashe was just ahead, it was all coming back to me. We needed to MOVE.

_**Well**__**…**__** that is interesting**__**…**__** Who is this Steele character, and why do I feel like I know him? Find out later, in the next chapter, perhaps. Anywhoo, R&R (Read and Review)! **__**'**__**Till next time!**_


	6. Chapter 5: As the Water Flows

_**Sorry for the cliffhanger last time... was too good a chance to refuse! Anywhoo, It would be rude to leave Amalia/Ashe waiting to be rescued any longer! Onward!**_

Chapter 5: As the Current Flows

[ No Music For Now (NMFN)]

Traveling through the Waterways, the Rats, Ghosts, and Garchimacera monsters approached us, yet never ventured too near. They were too scared of Steele. Heck, I was scared of Steele. The guy just gave off an aura of power and intimidation walking around. I felt that, were he to feel like doing so, he could crush all of us and walk away without breaking a sweat or ruffling that cloak of his. I still thought he seemed familiar, though, as if I knew him from somewhere. If only I could build the courage to remove his cloak's hood...

As we approached the area where we were to meet Ashe, a faint noise made Ace and my ears twitch, being as they were more sensitive. It was the sound of metal clanking, like armor, and the unmistakable sound of swords clashing with other swords and shields. Our battle was near. Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult in the game. That meant that with our current power, it would be a snap to eliminate the Archadian soldiers ahead. I stopped the group to explain what was about to happen.

"Alright, there's going to be some Archadian soldiers chasing a silvery blonde haired woman. She will call herself Amalia, but don't tell her that you know it isn't. We cannot let her fall or be captured. Got it?" Everyone nodded, but Balthier had his doubts.

"Saving damsels in distress is fine and all, but why this one in particular?" Typical sky pirate, wondering how it helps him to do something for someone else. I couldn't resist rolling my eyes.

"She is a key character in getting you to your treasures. Also, she is important in other ways I will let you discover for yourself." Good, he's accepting it. Just then, Steele speaks for the first time.

"I believe you. This world will have need of her." He spoke in a kind of monotone, with just a hint at the emotion of concern. "Therefore, I will help you in any way I can." With that, he lowered his hood. My jaw dropped as I beheld a silver furred fox head, with moderately sized spiky hair and dark grey eyes. He wore a collar like necklace and the pupils of his eyes were slitted both horizontally and vertically, resulting in a crossed appearance. One bang of his hair covered his right eye, effectively hiding it from view. I knew he felt familiar.

"Silver!... or is it Grey Steele still?" This must have been one of my subconsciously selected allies, Silver Foxx, along with his alter ego Grey Steele.

"I am both in one, you may call me either name." He smiled, and the bang shifted to cover his left eye, revealing his right eye to actually be a light grey color that shone with compassion and humor. His voice also gained full emotion, revealing a halting accent that sounded vaguely like Oriental, yet English was clearly his first language.

"I-I'm glad you could help, now we need to go or we'll miss saving our target." They all nodded. "Right, then. Let's go!"

[Music theme: Dearly Beloved, NeoS remix]

We quickly rushed onward, stopping just before the gate to where we'd save her to use the crystal, then rushed in. The soldiers had dispatched Ashe's bodyguards, and she stood cornered, sword drawn and shield up as she stood against a cliff.

"Over here! I'll catch you!" I waved my arms then held them out for her to jump in them. She hesitated, probably not certain whether to trust such a strange character as me, then decided that I was better than capture. She jumped, and crashed into me, narrowly avoiding impaling me with her sword. Man, Vaan must have been pretty strong to catch her. She must have weighed 250 pounds! Enough on her weight, though, the soldiers had jumped over the side and closed the gates to surround us. Quickly, commands fell from my mouth, even though no one had elected me leader.

"Ace, Balthier, do what you do best! Silver, defend her! I will be dealing with the leader."

"When did I ever do anything different?" Balthier wasn't much for taking orders, but he complied well enough.

"You got it, Fox Boy!" Ace got the message and he was on all fours, his blade was at the ready. I assumed that was his preferred fighting stance.

"I would be honored to assist." Steele was back, and the boxes glowed, at the ready, as he lifted himself off the ground.

The soldier Comander laughed. "You think you can take me, boy? I don't care what you are, I, Commander Tonberry 'Leeroy' Jenkins, have never lost my prey, and that woman is it!" He pulled out a greatsword, and brandished it at me, looking very inexperienced. I rolled my eyes, and got into a fighting stance. He was so pathetic, I wouldn't even need a weapon to defeat him.

The six other soldiers took on Ace and Balthier, with Steele blasting any Archadian that got too close with psionic blasts, and Ashe/Amalia taking a breather from her long run from these soldiers. Ace cut through two soldiers, then mule kicked (or is it wolf kicked?) a soldier who got too close behind him. The soldier stumbled, then was knocked flat on his butt with a shot to the head from Balthier. The next two hefted their swords, and rushed in to engage Ace from behind and hold him down, but he threw them off with a snarl.

Meanwhile, Commander Jenkins swung his sword deceptively fast in a horizontal motion, forcing me to step back out of range. As it passed for the next swing, a vertical chop, I smirked and stepped to the side, deftly avoiding the blow as it splashed into the ground and stuck in the stone. I then stepped in as he was trying to yank his weapon free and gave him a swift one-two punch combo on his face, then his body. This caused him to stumble, which I then used to space a neat side kick into his abdominal area. The metal crumpled under the blow, and he was sent flying into the wall, where he fell and crumbled down, seemingly unconscious.

As I turned around, Steele finished his business with the last of the soldiers, crushing the armor until it was a twisted ball. No blood escaped, however, and he pitched it deep into the waterways, where a clang and a surprised '_squeak!' _signified that a dire rat was caught off guard by this action.

[End music]

I turned to Amalia, internally glad Steele was my ally, and began to see to her. "Are you OK?"

She turned to me with a somewhat annoyed look."I'm fine. I appreciate what you have done, but now I must get going."

Needless to say, my eyebrows shot up at this brush off, but I persisted. "Look, the way out is dangerous, and you're not at full strength. How about we stick together and get out of here that way. Now, what was your name?" As if I needed to know, but charades must be kept.

"Amalia." She thought about my offer, then nodded. "Fine. But once we escape, it's over."

And so we headed deeper in.

We walked into the next room, where I remembered the flans would attack us. As I drew my diamond sword and looked up at the ceiling where they were coming from, I cursed myself for not learning Fire, or its kanji, _Kaji._ The flans dropped down, and we all began to prepare for battle again.

[Music theme: Hunter's Chance, Nobuo Uematsu, FF9]

In all, four MASSIVE flan creatures dropped from the ceiling. I swung at one, only to realize the gash I made quickly repaired itself. These creatures really were made of gelatin, after all. Realizing force alone was not enough, I began to cast one of my Kanji. A seal appeared on my blade, containing the sign for Spirit. When it finished manifesting, the Diamond blade shifted, now it glen a grey Mist. "_Spirit Steel: Kami Blade"._ My MP and Stamina both began dropping steadily, this was going to be something to work on later. However, this time when the flan charged, I sidestepped and cut it, and the amorph melted, its form scrambled._ "Amorph Bane Cutter"_

The others were also finding ways to hurt the blobs. Ashe was slicing away at one of them, and it steadily healed slower until it couldn't heal at all and simply fell apart, melting like mine had.

Silver was out, and blasting another with psychic energy. When that didn't completely do it, he created two psionic blades and rapidly slashed away at it until it was too scrambled to remain conscious, so it, too, melted. And so there was one left.

Ace and Balthier seemed to be working together against this one. Eventually Ace lost patience on wearing it down, and grabbed Balthier's weapon out of his hands, much to the sky pirate's detestment. Ace then ran up to the Flan, jumped over it, and as he did, he shot it in a completly straight line up one side and down the other, then threw the gun as the monster exploded at Balthier, who somehow caught it without too much difficulty._ "Blazing Finisher: Shot Flare." _ We all stared at Ace in amazement for the nonchalance with which he treated Balthier's weapon and the ferocity of his angry outburst at this simple creature.

"Wow..." I expected it least, since Tim tended to be mostly calm in situations, as well as patient. "I guess that's it for them, though..."

[End music]

We continued, relatively unhindered, into the overflow cloacoa area where the Firemane I killed was supposed to confront us and slow us down enough to get us caught. Instead, I heard clanking armor come from upstairs, and a full group of sixteen soldiers marched in. Libra estimated them to be about level 14, not too tough, but there were more coming, as well as the fact that Amalia and Balthier were not up to that level of power yet. Ace, Silver, and I readied our weapons, prepared to defend the two others to our last. Thus, the real fight began.

[Music theme: Battle against Cedric (actual song name unknown), Motoi Sakuraba ToG]

The fighting was tense and very difficult, even with our overwhelming strength their nubers put us in very dangerous situations. Fortunately, Amalia kept supplying potions whenever we got injured, so we were able to fight for quite a while. Tim bit and clawed and slashed anyone who got even close to him; it would seem like his feral instincts were kicking in. My own instincts were there, but I was able to suppress them mostly. However, I did snarl and claw one man who dared to attempt attacking me from behind and touched one of my tails. Like I said, mostly.

Silver, on the other hand, was calm, cool, and collected as he shifted seamlessly between himself and Steele, balancing ruthless psychic shot attacks with up-close-and-personal fist and blade strikes, making him seem a lord of the battlefield with his graceful dancelike movements. It would seem that while Silver was stronger physically, Steele was more capable as a ranged psychic fighter, making his graceful balance between both egos all the more necessary and awe-commanding in mastery.

I, on the other hand, was down and dirty, using my platinum dagger to stab soldiers and slit throats as well as my diamond sword to block and deal greater damage. An occasional Chi spell kept them from overwhelming me, but the steady MP and Stamina drain was becoming apparent. We couldn't hold out much longer like this. It seemed as if they had sent the entire platoon Archadia assigned to Rabanastre to catch us.

Eventually, Amalia ran out of potions, and conveniently, that was when Vayne walked in. The prettyboy jerkface just smirked as he commanded his men to regroup behind him. I knew escape was impossible now, but a smirk slowly grew across my face as I remembered who that would lead us to. Therefore, I struggled surprisingly little as they dragged us away and took our equipment from us, though I did growl at the man as he removed Saving Grace from my hip. I kept the Dusk Shard well hidden in my jacket, and they did not discover it even in a thorough search.

And so, we wound up in Nalbina Dungeons anyhow...

_**Oh my! Whatn an extensive chapter full of battles! Those of you who've played (I know most of you have, but even I read about games I've never played) know what's coming: Barheim and Basch! Those of you who don't, you are doomed to remain clueless until I post next time! *gives signature sly fox smile* heheheheh... anywhoo, 'Till next time!**_


	7. Chapter 6: Worst Prison Ever

_**Hey readers! So hard to get access to the internet around my life, so yeah... anywhoo, here's your chapter! I only own my OC's, Square owns the rest, etc.**_

Chapter 6: Worst Prison Ever

I wake up to find myself in a strange place. Strange, I don't remember blacking out. Was all that happened yesterday... a dream...? Just then I am forced to reality.

"About time you woke up. I was starting to think I would have to leave you behind." That sounded like Balthier... I sigh and get up off my muzzle. Yep... Definitely Balthier... and that means I'm in Nalbina Dungeons.

[Music theme: Footsteps of Desire, Nobuo Uematsu FF9]

Looking around, I find that the place is dangerously degenerate. The pillars holding the ceiling up are crumbling, there are chunks of the ceiling all over the place, some having skeletons peeking out from them; even the fountain where all the prisoners are gathered is falling apart. Dead and forgotten prisoners litter the walls and ground. The smell is positively horrendous. My nose wrinkled at this, pulling my lips back in a half-snarl.

"Lemme guess... Steele and Ace are scouting ahead..."

"That would be correct. You're smarter than you look, I think." Balthier waved a hand around. "Go on, explore. Just don't prove my last statement wrong and start anything. Not all the prisoners are friendly, or even hume." Of course I knew that. As a matter of fact, though, I will need to get into it with those brutish creatures called seeq to get us all to escape. Hopefully Basch is still alive... he was near death in the main storyline when the group found him, hopefully he is still there now and not executed or something...

Heading out, I collected a few knots of rust to toss at the seeq, as well as caught word of a really strange character that appeared among the thugs' ranks... this particularily interested me, as unusual characters so far had meant others of my group. Hopefully this was no different.

Deciding I had wandered around enough, I headed to the next room, making sure to give the crystal next to the archway a tap for good luck. I would need it.

Entering in, a bangaa fell at my feet, just like he did with Vaan in the game. Bangaa were very unusual, looking like a crocodile that had crossed with a hume, and this one looked like he'd went three rounds with Chuck Norris and lost. Then, the stench grew worse somehow as three ugly piglike creatures rounder than they were tall came up. Man, these seeq look much uglier in person...

The first one held a club, and he lifted it to finish off the injured bangaa. I wasn't about to wimp out like Vaan and watch this poor prisoner die, so I stepped in and parried the blow. His eyes shot up to me with surprise as I shoved a fist into his snout. He stumbled back, but man, did my hand hurt! He must have that protect spell over himself right now.

Deciding he didn't like me more than he enjoyed his prey, the ringleader snorted something in his native tongue and all three closed in on me. I jumped into the arena and beckoned them in, which they followed without question or hesitation. Obviously these were even dumber than they looked, and that's saying something. Of course, that's what I told them. As they closed in, the gates closed to the arena and prisoners began to shuffle in from the other room to watch the 'fool who challenged ?'. Balthier jumped in at the last second with a comment of how he realized it was fultile to try stopping me or them from fighting.

[Music theme: Drawing! Grind!, Motoi Sakuraba ToG]

The fight started, and the lead seeq barked some orders. As the two closed in, I sighed, then formed the seal for _Wind_ under my feet. As the first pig charged and swung his club, I dived backward, and he stumbled onto my seal. I then activated it, and the seeq was sent skyward, crashing down on top of the second. Both were out cold. The crowd went crazy. Never before had anyone given the seeq even a mite of trouble! The leader, seeing the crowd was cheering me on, glared and charged. Remembering the Protect spell was still in place, I stepped aside, easily avoiding the clumsy strike, further enraging the beastly thug. Before he could react further, I formed a seal for spirit and punched through it. My fist gained an etherial quality and I smote the seeq, whereupon the fist exploded with energy. "_Spirit Fist!_" The seeq was done. He stumbled back, fell on his butt, and didn't get up.

Balthier turned to me, eyebrow raised. "Well that was too easy, now wasn't it? Next time leave some for me, ok?" I would've blushed if fur didn't cover my face. I just upclassed the self proclaimed man of the hour in a fistfight he went through the trouble of getting into.

I didn't have long to worry about it, though. Shortly after the fight ended, two Archadian Judges walked in. Apparently, we were to be picked up and sent to the prison in Archades for interrogation. Also there was a certain bangaa out for Balthier. Noting this, both Balthier and I quickly sought the exit.

"Over here!" Ace and Silver lifted a gate for us to escape, and we all ran for our lives away from the bounty hunters. We didn't stop until we reached the storehouse where our stuff was stored.

"Worst. Security. Ever... Not even a guard for our stuff? For once, I can go with inadequacy since it makes it easier for us!" Ace and I shared a sly grin as we rearmed ourselves.

_**Well! Those seeq are really too easy if you just spam spells at them... plus, think about it: what kind of a prison keeps its prisoners'equipment so close by and left unguarded? That is the worst security mistake ever! 'Till next time!**_


	8. Chapter 7: Into the Darkness

Chapter 7: Into the Darkness

"Okay guys, here's the thing," I was explaining what I could to the group so that we were well prepared. "I can hear metal clanking ahead of us. They must be here for someone else as well, or else they know we escaped. Either way, we must make our way past them. Who is best at stealth?"

Balthier pointed at Silver. " His abilities can muffle footsteps and hasten our pace, but then he'll be less useful in a fight. Do you think that will work?"

"Yes. We surely could handle ourselves around these guys without Silver- or Steele's- aid in combat. However, we should avoid battle as much as possible. Got it? We don't want those Judges on our tails." And so, Silver cast _Psionic Veil, _giving us_ Float, Haste _and_ Vanish, _and we headed into the deep catacombs of the dungeon.

[Music theme: Deep, Nine Inch Nails]

The spell must have helped somewhat, because only a small group of soldiers noticed us, but by the time they could raise the alarm, we had subdued them. As we made our way through the dungeon, I added a few technicks to my liscenses, and came across an unusual tile. This one said _**Trinity Seal.**_ I didn't have enough points for it yet, but I definitely wanted to see it in action as soon as I could. Also, a few Potions and Phoenix Downs were located here, often with notes like _'in case you need it' _attached, obviously from previous prisoners who tried escaping this way. We shrugged and took these items.

Now let me explain about these Phoenix Downs. They are actually feathers imbued with the blessing of a white mage priest, and they have specific boundaries in which their holy magick works. They can't revive people who are dead for longer than three days. They can't revive people whose bodies are destroyed, are beheaded, or are similarily left unwhole. People stabbed through the heart only have five minutes to be revived by Phoenix Down. However, under any other circumstances, Phoenix down can revive people from fatal or near-fatal wounds, somewhat, and help them regain conciousness, though they will still be weakened.

Well, in any case, we eventually came to the place where Basch was (hopefully) held. I signaled a stop, althogh most of us had already, the turned to the group. What I could hear in there was exactly as the cutscene went, but my conversation was on a different subject.

[Music fade out]

"I was hoping it wouldn't have had to come to this, but we are about to enter a very dangerous area. You notice it's been getting dark as we entered these catacombs. It's about to get darker still. Balthier, have you heard of a place known as Barheim?" His grim expression was all the answer I needed.

"More than heard of it, I've had to visit it a few times." His expression was almost pained, or perhaps fearful? "What would make you say that it is ahead of us? Can you see the future? Or have you, perhaps, been this way before?" Great. Now was NOT the time to start getting questioned. Way to go, Fox Brain...

"Neither, it is simply that I have a good sense of direction from my travels, and remember Nalbina and an entrance to Barheim are near the Estersand, with Barheim underground. Where do you think we are headed now?" That lie almost came too easily... maybe my inner fox's cunning was beginning to manifest? For now, though, I'm just glad he bought it.

"Very well, but I will be watching you very closely in there. You seem to be acting differently since we met, short time though it was." Again, great. I may have saved myself there, but my instincts are also frying me as well... Ace cut in just then.

"Guys? I think they're finished chatting..." We all looked to see the judges, one of which must've been Basch's twin Gabranth, stepping back out of the room. We didn't waste any time making ourselves as out-of-the-way as possible to avoid detection. They walked by, and we entered in to see Basch, skeletal and in chains in a cage hanging over the abyss that led to Barheim.

"Well, well, what have we here, a murderer of a king? Why, I thought you were dead, executed in public!" I know it was cruel, but it was what came naturally to mind. The gaunt skeleton raised his head to glare at me, but I saw the sadness, convinced I hated him like everyone else.

"Well, you were obviously wrong. And though you wouldn't believe me if I told you, I didn't do any more than follow my devotion." Gotta admit right here, all the main characters have some spunk so far and hate my guts except Vaan, but he's dead and so doesn't count. "What are you anyway? Have I gone so far as to fall to apparitions and illusions now?" I couldn't help but shake my head sadly at the stricken tone he gave those words.

"No, but all that is about to happen will seem a dream if that is how you choose to think. Here, let me help you out of that..." I climbed onto the cage much like Vaan had, and 'tried' to free him, simply making noise to attract guards to force us down into Barheim. Sure enough, they came; we all hopped onto the cage, swung out over the abyss, and came crashing down into the dark depths below. We were in Barheim, darkest realm of Ivalice and home to the being that controlled death itself. Yippee.

_**Whoo boy, this is gonna get intense now. I hope nobody dies down here... heh heh... *groans audibly* this is gonna suck for someone, I just know it... R&R, please! 'Till next time!**_


	9. Chapter 8: Blackout

_**Hey there readers! Here is one of my favorite dungeons! So dangerous, though, hope no one dies! Keeping fingers crossed... long journey through the dimming tunnels, longer chapter results. Here we go!**_

Chapter 8: Blackout

After the crash, I came to only to find I couldn't see anything, even with my eyes open. Was I... blind...? No, things are just ridiculously dark. This was very much Barheim as I would imagine with the lights out: too dark. Slowly my eyes adjusted, until I saw that everyone else was still out cold. I saw the old bangaa Burogh down the stairs near a lit candle, and went down to ask for the fuse to power the place. When he heard me coming, though, he looked at me with surprisingly bright eyes and uttered a gasp of fear.

"Dey've foun' me! Ohhhh I'm-a done fer, ain't I? Well, I'll give ya a reason te r'member de name o' dis ol' bangaa, or dat name ain't Burogh Gar Gainsay!" With that the bangaa merchant leaped up, a Knot of Rust in each hand, and prepared to throw them at me. Before he could, though, I backed away, ears flat and hands up in surrender, as well as slowly lowered myself to my knees to show no ill will despite my appearance.

"Please, there's no need for that, now is there?" I think what floored him the most was that I could speak at all. "I simply wanted to ask about the fuse you are carrying in your pack. Could it light things up down here?"

Slowly, Burogh sat back down and pulled his pack off of his back. Never taking his eyes off of me, he took the fuse out and laid it on the ground. "Ah s'pose it mought. Wha' 'bout it te yeh, o creature o' de dark?" He still thought this was some trick. I rolled my eyes and my tails swished impatiently against the ground.

"It's everything to me. I'd like to light the place up so my hume comrades can escape. My humblest apologies for the crash earlier that removed your usual route out of here. That was me and my friends." This intrigued the bangaa. "I would pay you whatever price you need for replacing it." With that, I pulled out of my pockets several pouches of Gil the soldiers had dropped. This cinched it for the bangaa that I was no monster out to eat him.

"Ain't no monster understan' bid'ness dat ah evah knew. Go on, ye ken 'ave et fer free. Ah ain't got no use fer it or Gil 'till ah'm outta 'ere." He rolled the fuse towards me and I took it with a quick word of thanks.

[Music theme: Barheim Passage, Hitoshi Sakimoto FF12]

I quickly plugged the fuse in, and the dim electrical bulbs flickered to life, though a few burned out right away from misuse. The rest of my group awakened then, and the crystal in the corner sparkled to life as well. Maybe the light contained a form of Mist for the crystal to feed off of...? No matter, we all returned to Burogh, who explained the situation.

"Now dat fuse ain't too strong, now. T'will run down as 'lectricity gets a-used, like wid dis 'ere gate, which id our way outta here. Why don'cha pull dat dere levah to d'monstrate, lad?" Ace pulled the lever and the lights dimmed as the gate raised. "Now, ah'm a-gonna steh heah 'till ah got mah en'gee back. Iffin' yeh wan' an'ting, ah'm a-willin' te sell yeh stuffs, gotta keep bid'ness runnin', yeh know?" All of us agreed, and bought a few potions and, at my request, some Eye Drops and Antidotes for the off chance we ran into some spell slinging Skeletons.

Just then, the lights flickered and went dimmer, reminding me of what lay in the next room. We all headed into the passageway in full, to behold the ugly features of a Battery Mimic. Ace, being the clueless one this time, asked the obvious question. "What IS that thing?"

Balthier, being the expert, gave the obvious answer. "That is a monster that is very fond of electricity. Should it find a source, it will suck it dry."

"And? What then?"

"Lights out, and things are worse in the dark." Just then the lights had gotten almost so dim as to be out, and a zombie came from out of one of the shadowy corners. Quickly, I slashed it down. "Of course, if you ask nicely, it may give the power back."

I interrupted, being unable to resist stealing his next line. "Sticking it with a sword helps." I then pulled out my diamond sword and shoved it between the two plates that separated the head from the body. Sparks flew out and it fell down. Most of the sarks arced back to the conduit, sealing it shut, and so the lights grew bright again. Our victory was short-lived, though, as they immediately grew dimmer again at a steady rate. Running downstairs, we quickly dealt with the Battery Mimic there, too. Again, the lights brightened, and again, the lights continued dimming. I sighed, realizing there was going to be no rest until all the conduits were safe from Battery Mimics.

[Music theme: Zi-Zi's Journey, Lindsey Stirling]

We quickly ran out into the next area, a place containing rail tracks down a branching tunnel. Following the sound of crackling electricity, we went to the next conduit to find the Battery Mimic and dealt with it. Basch was really quite powerful, even without any armor, weapons, or nourishment. As a matter of fact, he actually kept up with Tim and I with relative ease. I was very glad to have been able to save him.

We ran for the next Mimic with all haste, but I quickly headed down one path for a chest containing a few Motes and a parchment paper with a warning on one side and a symbol on the other. The warning spoke: "_Beware, death awaits the one who acts the hero in here._" It was signed Gerald. Who the heck was that? The symbol on the back actually turned out to be two new Kanji for me: Ice and Shadow, a strange combination. Shrugging, I continued back to my comrades, who had dealt with the next Mimic without me. This one, however, had let out a shriek that attracted all the Steelings and Seekers in the area, so the entire tunnel was a-flutter with the batlike creatures' wings. Steele quickly blasted a few that got too close, then generated a shield for the rest and pushed them back. We ran deeper in, and came across a crystal and a skeleton with armor, fortunately not animated. The bat creatures were still after us, but now we might be able to defeat them. We turned, Basch grabbing the Iron Sword from the skeleton to assist him in battle, and began to take their numbers down, one bat(or more) at a time. A psychic blast took out several steelings, plastering them to a wall. A flash from Balthier's gun, and a bat fell, headless. Several flashes of steel and a frozen wind later, many Seekers were flash frozen, then shattered by my rapid motion. Still, they came in droves. There seemed to be no end to them, and the lights were still dimming. We needed to end this, FAST. I looked at Steele and Ace, and they nodded. Time for another intense move combination.

"_Howling Eclipse!"_

_"Slashing Winds!"_

_"Psychic Burst!_"

"_**Festival of Dancing Blades!" **_Our techniques all blended with magnificent grace as Ace's Howling Eclipse fused with my air blades to form a swarm of cutting shadows, which Steele's Psychic atack grabbed and caused to swirl around us and suck in many Steelings, slice them up, and spit them out. Slowly, the blades split away from the maelstrom to strike the few survivors, and then it was over. Steelings and Seekers littered the ground. We were all tired, so we refreshed with the crystal, and decided to take a physical break. Basch took the rest of the armor from the fallen soul on the ground, and we conversed.

[Music end]

"So, O Kingkiller, tell us your story. Certainly one would want to make a confession after all these years about what happened." I wish I could have told him I believed he didn't kill his king, but I had already set myself upon this path, and so I must walk it.

He glared sadly at me again. "I did not kill the king. That's just what they want everyone to believe."

"Oh-ho! Is that so? Do explain, then, why your face was the one the witness recognized then? Was he bribed by the Empire?"

"No. Rather, I have a twin, one who looks exactly as me, who lives to serve the Empire. As I was taken away, he took my place in the ranks that night. As soon as he reached the king, he slew all 'his' men and then the king."

Balthier cut in "A twin brother, what a tale... what would make us believe you?"

Basch sighed. "Nothing. You will simply have to trust me."

"Well, you know what?" I felt I had let him believe I hated him long enough. "I actually believe you. And I could forgive you were I to be wrong in doing so, so know I do not hate you any longer." Basch visibly relaxed, and I felt a rush of relief myself. Good, that was over. Just then, I realized the shadows were still growing longer and darker.

"I believe we have rested long enough. Quick, we still have a few power suckers left to kill!" And so our hunt for the remaining Mimics began.

[Music theme: Shadows, Lindsey Stirling]

We raced into the next area, where two Mimics were at the conduits happily sucking away the remaining power. It was nearly too dark to see, and the zombies and skeletons were coming out of the shadows like hornets. Quickly, Steele psychicaly grabbed the nearest Mimic and literally squeezed every ounce of electricity out of its body back into the conduit, bringing the power back to nearly full somehow. Meanwhile, I figured out that _Spirit_ plus _Ice _formed a pretty and powerful crystal shield for a short time. This shield had _Reflect _on it, so the mass of spells the skeleton monsters slung bounced off to take out a large number of the undead horde. "_Winter Mirror_"

The remaining horde crashed against the shield, cracking it. A quick flash of steel, and they all lost their heads to Saving Grace, my katana. Heading back to my friends, I found a chest Mimic with a note stuck between two joints. After dispatching the mimic, I read:

"_Do not say I didn't warn you. Signed, Gerald."_

Who was this Gerald? What did he want with me? My ears flattened to my skull with the thought of this person. Enough thought on this, we needed to move on before the queen spawned enough energy suckers to steal all our power and seal us here forever... well, almost forever. We would find another way out, but it would be very difficult.

Moving to the gate switch, I waited for the others to kill the last Mimic and return, then threw the switch. We all headed in as the tunnel quickly grew dark yet again. We used the crystal, leaving a memory so that those who came here saw us, just in case, and headed for the lair of the Queen Mimic.

Inside, the Queen was as large as the room, reaching a magnificent height of at least 15 feet tall. Underneath it, a set of small chest mimics lay freshly spawned. Almost as if waiting for our arrival, the Queen roared and the chests sprang to life, running for the many conduits all around the terminal, and so began the fight of our life.

Quickly I ordered an extermination of all the Tiny Battery mimics, which Basch and Silver quickly set about doing. Meanwhile, Balthier, Ace, and I all took on the Queen herself. Libra noted it was highly weak to ice, so I quickly set a seal for the same element on my blade, then sealed that on with Spirit. "_Ryu Blade: Winter Form." _my Saving Grace took on a frigid air, and frost formed over it to make a sheathe of Ice. Swinging at one of the legs to bring it closer to the ground for me to strike its body, I then focused my energy and fired a stream of ice out of the tip of my sword. "_White Blade Burst!"_ The impact caused a large explosion of Ice and frost now coated the Queen's body.

While I did that, Ace ran up another leg to its head and dug his blade deep into it. The Queen roared in pain and a massive electrical discharge was released from its body, striking everything. This was actually enough to revive some of the Tiny Batteries, so they resumed their feast on the conduits, making Basch and Silver have to kill them yet again before they could help us. The queen, realizing something was on top of her, shook herself violently from side to side, striking the walls and causing a tremor that further destabilized the deteriorating terminal. Chunks rained down from the ceiling, and we all had to dodge them to avoid being crushed. Several struck the Queen and her own spawn, helping us along with defending the conduits and also severely harming her. However, a small chunk did strike Ace and knock him unconscious. He fell, and Basch ran up and caught him. After setting him down in a corner out of the way, Basch ran back in and struck the Queen in a vital area. The gigantic creature let loose a final wail, and its death throes began, causing the terminal to begin collapsing on top of us. Basch managed to grab Ace, when a swarm of skeletons and zombies came at us. Basch ran up to me, handed Ace over, and wordlessly went back to fight them. Among the crowd, I could see a man, wearing a mask over half his face. As I locked eyes with him, he shook his head sadly, as if telling me it was hopeless to try stopping Basch, who seemed intent on... acting... the hero... my realization gathered a sense of horror in me until it simply was too much to bear. I called out to Basch.

"No, Basch! We are almost free! They won't follow us into the daylight!" The dishonored knight turned to me, and was struck from behind by an Immobilize spell from one of the skeletons, sealing his fate. He was doomed for sure to perish, and so he simply turned back and yelled over his shoulder.

"Go! I am doomed, you can save yourself! GO!" I had no choice, Immobilize forced you to stay in a small area of space until it wore off, and if I got caught, I would face the same fate as Basch. Cursing myself the entire way, I turned tail and fled the collapsing cavern, knowing that not even Phoenix Down could save him now.

[Music end]

Outside, everyone looked at me anxiously. I was upset, and it showed in every fiber of my body language. My tails drooped, only to swish agitatedly on occasion. A constant growling whine escaped my throat with every exhalation, and my ears laid flat against my head, occasionally flicking like they were warding off flies. I wanted to know who that man was. Was it that mysterious Gerald? Was it something more sinister? Who was Gerald anyway? One thing was for sure: he would pay in full for this. He had killed Basch as surely as having slung the spell himself. Sure, he warned us, but it wasn't enough to save us from this terrible tragedy, and I blamed him for not doing more. He was next, as soon as we could, he was mine to hunt, and there would be no escape.

"Come now, there's no need for that! I'm right here!" Looking up, I saw the masked man standing on top of the entryway. He flipped down, landing legs crossed into a bow. "Gerald (pronounced jAr-alld), at your service!"

I glared daggers at him. "You." He must have felt confident to show himself so soon. "You killed him, even if you hadn't Immobilized him yourself, you KILLED HIM!" I snarled that last part, my anger finally over coming me in conjunction with grief. Basch had been one of my favorite characters, and for this man to warn me of death and watch as I stood helpless to save the knight was too much. I pulled my shortsword. "You must pay for this."

The man gave a smile, and jumped onto the railing. "Now, don't be so eager to fight. You'll get your chance, but not yet. For now, ta-ta!" I rushed forward fully intent on ending him, but he did a backflip off the railing, spun like a corkscrew, and disappeared into a dune of sand. Not a trace of his existence remained.

I stood there, my hackles raised and a constant growl in my throat. The others looked at me in concern, and Ace stepped forward.

"Uhhhh... Grypinh? Are you okay? You seem a bit agitated, what is the problem?" I turned to him, my face a mask of hatred and grief, an he backed away in shock at this unrecognizable side of me. Seeing him scared seemed to knock me into my senses, though, and I quickly calmed down, feeling a strong feeling of lethargy and depression escend upon me. I couldn't stop the tears this time.

"Basch is dead, crushed under the collapsing terminal. He died protecting us, and that man warned me of it, yet he made no motion to interfere. I blame him for this..." my voice broke, and i spoke no more. Everyone looked at each other, then came to lend me their comfort. Even Balthier couln't harden his heart against this spectacle. We stood there for a long time, mouning the death of yet another pillar in this world.

_**Ohhhh snap! Another main character down! That's not good! Who is this Gerald? And what does he want with us? R&R, plz!**_


	10. Chapter 9: Marks and Targets and Allies

_**Sorry for taking so long to update, I was unable to come to this site due to personal problems (not that you who come here care about the author's problems).**_ _**Before starting this chapter, I'd like to say something for one of my reviewers: It is too late, my darling Kelly L! It has begun, and cannot be stopped! Ahahahahaa! *signature sly smile* Anyhow, my dear, Gerald is not just a Phantom anyhow, if you make a suggestion, I make it work for characters based off reviewers. Anyways, let us see how I am faring now!**_

Chapter 9: Marks and Targets and Allies, Oh My!

We returned to Rabanastre some time later. I had recovered somewhat from my outburst, but I still held an ember for Gerald when I next met the man. Balthier headed off towards the Sandsea bar, saying he needed to 'freshen up.' I assumed this meant have a drink, maybe get actually drunk, and I couldn't blame him. We had been through a lot. Ace headed into town, wanting to visit the bazaar and sell some stuff and get new gear for us.

Meanwhile, Silver and I followed Balthier to the Sandsea, where I checked the Bounty Board for new marks. There, I found two: one for the Thextera Wolf, and one for the Flowering Cactoid. Being as they were in opposite directions, I decided to send Silver after Thextera and take on the Flowering Cactoid myself. It was annoying, but only because it ran away the entire fight. Its Thousand Needles attack would not kill me, because I had, according to Libra, the statistical power to withstand or avoid it easily. What was indicated as HP in the game registered here as force of the Mist all beings expel, basically their stamina. Just like when one is injured, they become more exhausted, when one got hit, their stamina decreased by set units. Mine registered about 1125, so Thousand Needles, which removed 1000 units, would be withstandable, though it would cut things close. Fortunately, nothing else was a threat in there. I headed out back into the Estersand for some solo training and that Mark.

[Music theme: Dalmasca Estersands, Hitoshi Sakimoto FF12]

The Yardang Labyrinth area wasn't too confusing, even in person. Signing in the petition was easy as well. Finding the little bugger, now THAT was annoying. I had to go through the entire area twice before I noticed the flower, then a third time through chasing it as it began running around.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU FREAKING *censored for virgin ears* OF A WALKING WATER GOURD!" Needless to say, it was not the most therapeutic event, nor the most graceful fight you've ever seen. That little thing was FAST for a walking plant. Eventually I cornered the annoying thing, and that's when it decided to use its Thousand Needles attack. They all hit me in the face, and boy, was I ticked when it ran off while I reeled from the pain. I growled to myself as I prepared a Chi Seal for Wind and Spirit, casting an essential Haste on myself, as well as charging myself with wind energy. _"Air Rush. _You've asked for it now..._"_

I ran after the creature as it ran towards Nalbina, catching up to it just before it reached a crack in which it might have hidden safely from me. However, I then swung my katana, charging it with all the Mist energy I still had left in the Rush spell. This resulted in a massive wind wave that sliced the cactoid in two, all the water inside spilling out onto the sand. Fortunately, the flower, the object of my hunt, was still mostly intact, only a few petals falling off from the rough treatment it had gone through. Just then, I realized my action had caused a sandstorm to occur inside the labyrinth, and blow out of the canyon into Nalbina. Feeling like messing with someone, I decided to walk out of the sandstorm, looking as normal as possible, just to see the looks on people's faces to find such a strange creature emerge from the first sandstorm the Yardang Labyrinth had seen in a long time. I still debate whether it was smart or not to do so. Here is what happened:

I step out of the canyon, hands in my pockets, doing my best sandstorms-for-breakfast impression. Many of the Nalbina residents looks were exactly as I expected, eyes the size of dinner plates. I smile, and wave, giving a hail to them.

[Music stop]

"Hey! Where might I be? Traveling by sandstorm is rather inaccurate sometimes. Am I anywhere near Nalbina?" They all stood there, watching me. Some whispered among each other, but my enhanced hearing still picked up what they said:

"He looks just like her. Is he here to help us?"

"Another one! Where are they coming from?"

"Who is he? What does he want with us?"

Eventually they went quiet, and I smiled slyly, being as I knew that a normal smile would not be a good idea, what with it looking more like a snarl in this form. "I was just passing by, and thought that I should stop for some provisions! I am running low..." This was somewhat untrue, I was stocked pretty well with Potions from Burogh and Barheim, and I actually had a fair store of status healers as well, including the surprisingly rare Phoenix Downs, which actually were uncommon to find in shops. "Oh! I can trade in loot from my travels for stuff, as well as Gil! I know what a bargain is, if you have one." Most of the merchants looked to each other, and traded words of agreement to sell to me, should I come to them. However, one elder still seemed to have his doubts, which he made known.

"You are an imposter, a curse, the same as that vigilante who has plagued us the last three years! Leave us, and don't think nary a thought of ever coming back!" Some citizens began to agree, but it all seemed fine until one of them shouted out the one thing I didn't want to hear:

"Wait! I know you; you are one of those fugitives from the Garamsythe gang! You're wanted by the Archadians!" My ears shot back from that and the resulting torrent of jeers and catcalls that followed. It all seemed like I was going to get mobbed and taken right then and there when something interesting happened. A voice I hadn't heard yet spoke out.

"Stop!" Everyone turned around and a passageway seemed to clear among them as the speaker came to the forefront. When the last person cleared out, there stood the one person I had hoped to find, yet feared our meeting.

The speaker was a female; I could tell by the body shape and way of walking she had about her. Also, she was another fox, like me: brown fur with tan streaks, brilliant blue eyes, and a confident smirk mixed with evident contempt for me, as if I had walked in covered in mud or something similar. She wore a brown duster in contrast to my black one, a blank white t-shirt, and a dream catcher necklace just like mine, and even similar, if tighter, blue jeans like mine. To top off the ensemble, she had a black _yang_ mark on her forehead and tribal fang marks on the sides of her muzzle. A sword and gun were strapped crossways on her back, proving to me that this was exactly who I thought it was; another one of my heroes.

"Kiara…" I wasn't sure what to do. It seemed like she was not going to be too friendly at the moment, being as she had lived a period here as a vigilante hunter. "You don't have to do this…" There was no way I would be able to defeat her, not at this point. I was tired out from chasing the Cactoid, and I did not hold enough power to fight her for long anyhow. She was going to wipe the walls with me if I didn't stop her from attacking.

[Music theme: Falling, Obsidia feat. CoMa]

"You are a fugitive from the Archadians, are you not?" she pulled her blade out and pointed it at me, revealing it to be a one edged Flametongue sword. Can anyone out there blame me for feeling as if I were in heaven at that moment though? I was meeting the star player of my created characters from Earth, and she was posed almost perfectly as I would have imagined her when challenging an opponent. Of course, I was the opponent, and she was going to turn me in, so I shook myself out of it quickly and looked at her evenly.

"Yes. And you want to know that why…?" Her eyes narrowed at me and a strong Mist aura came off from her. _Spirit Aura. _I gawked for a bit at the realization of her use of that move. She must have learned it from my third of her triad, Tan Zeng, before we were pulled into this world.

"Because you are therefore my prey, and you cannot escape!" She dashed at me, and then faded out, jumping over me, yet a brilliant orange afterimage continued to come at me. The afterimage punched at me, and I dodged, knowing it was no illusion and could actually hurt me. Strange, I'd always imagined her to have a blue Spirit Double, but this one was a burning orange… my momentary distraction was interrupted by pain exploding all over my back and head as the real Kiara landed a rapid series of jabs and kicks, followed by a final punch that resulted in an orange explosion of Mist. I flew forward a few feet, landing on my face. As I tried to get up, I tried speaking again.

"Kiara… we don't need to fight…"

"Shut up, fugitive! I know you won't come quietly, your blade indicates so, so now you will fall to me so that I don't have to deal with you any more than necessary!" She dashed forward yet again, this time her orange double in tow, and swung her blade at me. This time, I was prepared for the strike and blocked the blow with Saving Grace. The victory was short-lived, though, as the double then came in under my guard and landed a crushing blow to my ribs. Somehow, pure Mist held more force than real flesh and blood. The result was that I had the wind knocked out of me, but I had no time to worry about that; the real Kiara was coming at me with her blade, forcing me to block. I tried again to reason with her. "Kiara! The Archadians are not one to ally yourself with! Listen, everyone, they are the harbingers of injustice, and Vayne is the worst of them all! Some time from now, the king of Archadia is going to be assassinated, and the Senate will be blamed for it. The real perpetrator will be Vayne. You will know this when you see it."

"How can you prove this? How can you know this? You are lying to save your own skin! I may have no love for the Archadians, but they will pay me well for one of the Garamsythe Fugitives." She pulled out her gun, a modified Ras Algethi, and opened fire. The bullets seemed to come at me in slow motion, but I still couldn't dodge all of them, so I got some in my legs and shoulders. Severely weak, I fell to my hands and knees. My stamina registered only 25 units left. I decided to go for broke, and set a seal for Ice and Shadow, wishing to see what this combination would result in. From the seal emanated a series of flitting shadows, which attached themselves to her before she could react, and froze binding her in place. _"Frozen Shadows" _The Spirit Double of Kiara also froze, and then dissipated. Somehow, the Mist was absorbed by the Shadows and transferred to me in the form of energy to replenish me. I slowly got up from my position. Dusting myself off, I turned to Kiara.

"I can't prove it. You will just have to trust me. Now, come on, we don't have to fight, and we shouldn't. There are larger things at work here, things bigger than you and I could comprehend. Follow me, and we can make the world a better place." Remembering the compassionate side was a weak point for her, I pressed further to appeal to her want to help the impoverished of Nalbina. "Don't you want a place where the people of Nalbina can live freely, with an actual chance at life?" Kiara's eyes widened. Apparently I had hit her motives head on.

"What could a fugitive know of making a better world? You all lie, and cheat, and kill, and take advantage of other people. Such injustice could never foster a better world." She somehow managed to break free of my shadow spell, and the fight began anew, albeit on more equal grounds. As I fought with all my power, I continued to reason with her.

"Yes, I am a fugitive, but aren't we all under this Archadian curse? Aren't even the children you doubtless care for fugitives from something? We all kill, we all lie, and we all cheat. Not a single person is innocent of having taken advantage of at least one person." I ducked a sword swing. With all her Mist power gone, she was relying on her skill with her weaponry. "Ever care to think that justice comes in many forms?"

"You think to confuse me? I know my path, whelp!" She put her gun on top of her sword, and suddenly they merged to form the gunblade I had designed her with. _"Kitsu Blade: Angelwisp!"_ she then proceeded to open fire and swing with renewed ferocity. The blade burned with the energy from the Wyrmfire bullets that came at me, curving as if controlled by one mind. _"Burning Swarm!"_

I swiftly formed a wall of Ice, reinforced by a seal of Spirit. _"Winter Mirror." _The bullets slowly whittled away at it, some bouncing off and hitting the sand, while others were sticking into my shield. I then gripped Saving Grace, prepared at last to draw it. This had to end before someone got severely hurt. Even with the odds evened a little, I was still in a rather bad situation I wasn't sure I could win. Hopefully I could bring her around before I got defeated, or it was all over. "I fight for my friends, just like you. Yes, I sometimes kill, but I am not evil. I only kill because I need to in order to defend what I hold dear. Surely you can understand that?" I ran out, katana drawn, and went on the offensive. I wished to show her I was not merely trying to stall for time anymore.

She easily avoided many of my attacks, then kicked me in the chest in an unguarded moment between one of my swings, knocking me back. "I can understand perfectly. The difference is, you value petty things, like money or pride. I value the lives of these people. You could never understand, lost in your selfish needs. Doubtless you'd abandon your 'friends' the instant they bored you, if you hadn't already!" She swung heavily, forcing me to block again, then kicked me in the chest, knocking me to the ground. As she stood over me, I looked at her dead level and shook my head slowly.

"That's not what friends do. I would stick with my friends to the death, and the only reason they aren't with me now is because we agreed to take a break from our quest. Come with me, we're all meeting at the Sandsea tonight to contemplate our next move." The fox woman looked shocked; she obviously hadn't expected that answer. She just attacked me, and here I am, inviting her into my group! She quickly recovered, however, and picked me up to hold me in front of her face.

"Why would I be interested? You don't even know me!" She punched me in the gut, and I grunted in pain from the impact. Man, is she strong. She threw me back down, then rushed me to knock me unconscious. I managed to recover and draw my black diamond sword. I weakly blocked her next few attacks, getting nicked on the shoulders and ribs multiple times. She screamed at me as she swung with blind rage. "Why are you interested in me? What connection do I have to you? Who are you!? What do you want with me?!" She dropped her blade, as did I, and so she proceeded to pummel me with her fists as she continued to do the same with her words. "You don't even understand me! How could you?! What rights do you have to speak of truth when you're a fugitive?!" She just kept swinging, and I stood there and took it. Her blows and words grew steadily weaker until they stopped altogether and she collapsed on my shoulder and began to cry. Bewildered and beaten, I did the only thing that came naturally; I put my arms around her and kept her supported.

[Music end]

"Because I do not feel good when I see people cry; because I am here to help; because Fate brought us together." My voice was hushed, so only she could hear. "I do not presume to understand you, but I can hope to make you understand. Justice is flexible, and to be found in many forms. An injustice to one may be a justification to another. Come with me, we'll find justice within our hearts together." She looked up at me, tear streaks lined in the fur around her muzzle. I smiled gently, not showing any teeth, but showing a warm smile nonetheless. "Come now, I am Grypinh Moonfox, and I want you to come help me make the world a better place. Are you interested, Kiara Alchesy?" All the Nalbinan citizens stared as I set her back on her feet, retrieved our weapons, handed hers back to her, and extended my hand out to her. "What do you say? Is the Nalbina Firefox interested in following a fugitive planning on clearing his name to the whole world?"

She looked at me a few seconds longer, then placed a hand on mine. "Very well. It is time I moved on to see more of the world. I will come with you to the Sandsea tonight, and then we shall see how I may help." We left the town and headed into the Yardang Labyrinth once more.

_**Well, ummm... that was interesting... those of you who read k entertainment's stories, Kiara is mine and I have every right to use her how I choose. Besides, Kiara and Blaze are two different characters, despite similar backgrounds and attitudes. Kiara here is more of a fox, like me, while the other is a fox viera, with more human(heh, that's ironic, being viera are not human by any chance) qualities. Kiara is more flexible and susceptible to emotion. I give Kel full liscense to do whatever with Blaze, she could go full criminal and the furthest i will care is to speak my disappointment in breaking from original character in such a way. Those of you who don't read k entertainment's stories, I recommend them because they are good despite mild to moderate swearing and bloody violence, as well as some adult scenes and situations(that last one is rather infrequent, but unavoidably noticable). That guy inspired me to write this and fanfics in general, so go check him out if you can bear the warnings i just gave in mind. Speaking of, don't forget to check out my tale of Blaze's background. Any whoo, I'm hoping for more reviewers, its dismal when one writes a story and no one seems to care, or only a small amount do… enough dismal stuff, life should be all about the positive. Till next time, readers! *signature sly grin***_


	11. Chapter 10: Tales of Rabanastre

_**Hello readers! It is I, your host; the Moonfox greets you. When you last left me, I had run into Kiara Alchesy, one of my favorite OCs I ever created. She may visit this section up here at some point, but not for now! No, for now, let's see how my other party members did on their adventures!**_

Chapter 10: Outings; Tales of Rabanastre

POV: Silver Foxx

[Music theme: Mt. Coronet Dubstep Remix, Glitch City (YouTube)]

After the Sandsea bar, I headed over to the man who asked for the Thextera mark's demise. He sat against the wall by the door of the bar. As Grypinh headed out to deal with some creature called a Flowering Cactoid, I found I had to deal with a mutant wolf creature. Grey Steele, being a part of my mind, emanated a sense of anticipation on hearing that we were to kill a creature. I was glad too; when Grey got bored, I tended to find my psionic powers become more spontaneous and I slowly began to feel less energetic as well.

"Say, what exactly are you, anyway? You don't look like any creature I know." I blinked with surprise. I had not faced this question before, having worn my cloak with the hood up most of the time. Of course, I was fully unprepared for such a question.

"Well, uh- that is to say- uh… I don't know, really." The man, Gatsly he said his name was, looked rather doubtful at that. However, he didn't press further, thankfully. Grey and I then got all the info on the Thextera and beat a hasty retreat to the Westersands where he said it lurked.

Outside the gate, a sandstorm raged in the western desert commonly known as the Westersands. Hanging a left and following the canyon wall, we found the beast I had come for. It was large enough to be ridden on, and really quite a beauty, with fur of all kinds of colors and holding a force of authority few creatures possess. I shook my head sadly, thinking of what a shame it was that such a beautiful creature must die to protect hume trade and commerce.

_It is not relevant. The reward is needed by Grypinh to allow him to complete his quest. That is all there is needed to know for me. _Grey obviously had no qualms to the killing himself, so I allowed him to take the reins for our shared body. Soon my limbs were moving under his direction, and I was the watcher, much as he was but a few seconds ago. As we approached Thextera, its ears perked up and it whirled around to face us. It growled menacingly at us, and Grey charged, hoping to end it quickly for my sake. For an emotionless program, Grey was really beginning to warm up to others' feelings; perhaps I am also becoming more willing to do what needed to be done, though, and had a larger sense of logic thanks to him…

The beast before us survived Grey's first strike, a psionic blast meant to pierce its heart, and it howled loudly, which was answered by five nearby wolves, which proceeded to leap down into the area and attack us. These wolves had red pelts, indicating they were the worgen from the eastern side of the Nebra River and Mosphoran Highwaste, unusual to this location. They were stronger than normal wolves, though, and in such numbers might actually pose a threat to us, so I immediately joined my force to his and we focused on them to reduce the danger. Two fell to a one-two slash from me, while Grey painted the walls with two more of them using his psionic blasts. The last one growled defiantly, and I ended its life mercifully quick, phasing out of normal eyesight and slicing it to ribbons for an instantaneous death. Grey showed mild surprise (indeed, he _was_ gaining emotions) at such an action from me.

_I thought you held an aversion to such violent methods, due to their link to our past. _  
He was right, I didn't like performing such brutal kills as that, but at least I could console myself with the fact that death was instantaneous and painless. _I understand. You do not like it, but it must be done, and so you make it as quick as possible._ He had it spot on; though I wished he did not read my idle reflections so openly. _They were there; I rather had no choice, since we are of one mind._ Enough on our internal conflicts, we had given chase to Thextera, who appeared to be making for an entrance to some cave, perhaps where its den resided.

We reached it right in front of the entrance. It seemed to know that escape was impossible, and so it turned and prepared to face us in a final stand. Before it could as much as snarl, Grey psychically grabbed it, and rushed in, piercing it with our psionic blades through its heart. It gave a final whine before going still for the last time. I felt a lingering sadness yet again that such beauty had to die, but it was as Grey had said; it must be done to help Grypinh on his quest. As we turned to leave though, a sound caught our attention.

It was a high pitched yipping noise. From out of the cave entrance came a little wolf pup. Apparently the Thextera had simply been out hunting for its one pup when we assaulted it and it had rushed back hoping to ensure the safety of its youngling. Feeling pity for having killed its mother, I decided to keep it, to which Grey had no objections. _It may actually be of some help to us, should we be able to tame it._ That's Grey for you, always thinking logically as to how something may be of some use. We quickly returned to the Sandsea, our new companion at our heels.

POV: Ace Matrix

[Music theme: Prelude, FFX]

I headed for the famous Muthru Bazaar, hoping to find some decent deals there for food and new gear. Why Griffin, uh sorry, Grypinh (yeah, his name didn't change much, kinda sad really), wore that ridiculous trench coat in this heat was beyond me, but I was simply dying in my leather jacket and various other clothing; I needed more outfits to choose from…

On my way down the stairs, I ran across this strange woman who looked like a mad experiment from the Playboy Mansion back at home on Earth. Grypinh said that these were viera, and that I would do well to show them respect since there was no way to tell how old exactly they were. This one looked about 25, and lost as all get out. She sat on the side of the stairs, looking as if she didn't know what to do with herself in this crowd, so I decided to help her out.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" She looked up at me, and I noticed her eyes were an unnerving shade of almost Sith red. Oh, yeah, sorry again, I am a major Star Wars fan, so bear with me if I make references to the series. Anyway, she looks at me with those Sith-like eyes, and tilts her head curiously, as if I were as interesting looking to her as she was to me.

"You seem to be not from this land. Are you?" I was taken aback. No one was supposed to know that Grypinh and I were not of this world. Then I realized that she meant this city. That seemed harmless enough to answer honestly. Good thing, I HATE lying. I suck at it, too.

"No, I'm not from around here. Rather, I'm from a distant land. However, I am decently knowledgeable of this city thanks to an excellent tour guide. Now, what seems to be the problem here? You look lost." I can't believe this, this felt so awkward. She was scantily clad, and I could barely keep eye contact. She seemed unaware of my discomfort, though and explained her situation.

"Well, indeed I am, far traveler. My sister had left the wood to join a hunting clan I hear is based here, and I followed not long after to see things for myself. I have become acquainted with this city's many walks and alleyways, though I do get lost occasionally still. What troubles me most is that I cannot hear the land here; should I be ashamed of that?"

I did not know anything about what she said, but Grypinh mentioned something about them being able to speak with something called 'the Wood' like a sixth sense type of thing, or the Force. "Well, if you are supposed to be able to, then yes, yes you should, I'm afraid. It is always a shame to be unable to use your gifts." She looked at me for a while longer, then looked out at the crowd passing by.

"I see. I will think upon this matter for a bit. Pease, come see me again sometime, I am Ktjn."

"I'll be sure to; glad to be of some help. I am Ace."

"Well, it was pleasant meeting you, Ace. I hope we meet again." She closed her eyes, and made no indication of speaking further. I turned and made my way down the steps. The fact that she wore such scant clothing bothered me still, but at least I was able to help her somehow.

In the bazaar, I found the Clan supplier for Centurio and came up to see his wares. Due to our rank as Rear Guard, whatever that meant, we only had a small selection of items, but I did get to sell some of our loot and use the cash to buy some strange crystals apparently called teleport stones and a few new sets of clothing and food supplies for traveling. On my way back, a man hailed to me and pulled me aside. He appeared to be the man who I saw Silver talking to earlier about some hunt. His name, so he claimed, was Gatsly.

"I saw you and thought you might be hanging with those fox looking guys. Are you?"

I shifted somewhat unconsciously under his gaze and unexpected question. "Yes. Why do you ask?" The man's eyes lit up.

"Ah, yes, one of your friends, the silver haired one, he killed the mark I asked, but I didn't have much to give him at the time. Would you get this to him? I hear it's good to carry these when you hunt a lot of things." He handed me a scroll, but it was blank. "If you take that to any merchant and pay the price he asks for it, it will become a valuable hunter's tool, called a Monograph. It helps you- well, why don't you just figure that out yourself?" I took the scroll, thanked him, and headed for a spot to change out my outfit. I was ROASTING!

_**Ah, the things my friends do when I'm not looking are none of my concern, but sometimes it's just so interesting! 'Till next time, readers! P. S. yeah my fake name is not much different from my real, please don't comment on that… *glares at those who would comment on it* especially you, you and you; no trolling ok?! BYE!**_


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